Perhaps the most intriguing  "poltergeist person"  to be studied so far is Matthew Manning, who since 1966, at the age of eleven, has been the center of  various psychokinetic outbreaks.  Dr. A. R. G. Owen, former Cambridge mathematician and geneticist, who authored perhaps the most comprehensive book on poltergeists, claiming that Manning  "is probably the most gifted psychic in the western world."

In addition to typical psychokinetic outbreaks, Matthew has shown an apparent ability to communicate with spirits via automatic writing and drawing.  Although his schoolmaster claims that he has never shown any particular drawing talent, he is able to reproduce – without any apparent effort or concentration – detailed and precise works of  art in the style of  deceased masters such as Durer, Picasso, Beardsley, and Matisse.  Automatic writing has been produced in languages with which Manning was unfamiliar.  Often verified information, and even psychic diagnoses, come through in this way.  Thus the phenomena contain the kinds of  evidence we might really associate with spirit phenomena.

Particularly since the public demonstrations of  Uri Geller, Manning has exhibited intentional psychokinetic effects amenable to scientific testing.  When tested by Nobel laureate physicist Brian Josephson in Cavandish Laboratory at Cambridge University, Matthew demonstrated an unusual spinning effect over a compass needle.  Ironically, when further instrumentation was used to record magnetic changes in the vicinity of  the compass, the needle of  the compass would only remain stationary.  Nevertheless, the instruments did detect magnetic changes.  Jusephson maintains that until further data is collected, his results will still have to be labeled  "inconclusive."

In other tests, conducted at the New Horizons Research Foundation in Toronto, Manning was able to demonstrate metal-bending, on demand, which was actually recorded on motion picture film.  Several tests were conducted that recorded physiological measures such as muscle tension and brain waves during psychokinetic activity.

No unusual muscular activity was noted.  However, rather profound changes were seen in the electrical activity of  the brain which have been described by Dr. Joel Whitton as a ramp function  (actually a rather pictorial description of  the chart printout).  The ramp functions appeared similar to the EEG patterns in a patient suffering from an overdose of  a hallucinatory drug and is suspected to stem from the older and deeper areas of  the brain.

These findings led the Toronto scientists to speculate on neurophysiological psi interrelationships.  Dr. Whitton conducted a small-scale investigation with a number of  known psychics to determine if they had any common childhood experiences.  The answer was quite fascinating – for the one experience that all of  the psychics had suffered in common was a severe electric shock before the age of  ten.    Although Matthew Manning did not recall such an incident, his mother informed the scientists that she had been so severely shocked three weeks before Matthew was born she was afraid she would lose him.

This line of  research seems to have implications for psychical research.  Perhaps the increasing number of  children who can now ostensibly demonstrate PK is associated with the greater number of  electronic gadgets in modern homes – with the correspondingly increased probability of  electric shocks. 

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